Dry nights and bloody mouths

Cole:
Cole is enjoying the warm weather and loves to play in the paddling pool. He digs in the garden and in any available sandbox. He is also officially completely potty trained. We started limiting his liquids before bedtime and encouraging him to go potty before bed. After three nights of dry pull-ups, he has slept without a pull-up for the last two nights and has been dry. Last night, he even got up to pee in the middle of the night! HOORAY! Good for him! Good for us!

Rhys:
Yesterday was the first of what I am sure will be many bloody accidents with Rhys. He is a climber and will scale anything that he can leverage his chubby belly over. He plays in a car that is too big for him and yesterday fell mouth-first onto the hard floor of our basement. He bloodied and split his lip and jarred two of his top teeth causing them to bleed and his gum in the immediate area to swell and bruise. I am mildly concerned and will call the doctor if his gum still is inflamed tomorrow.

It hurts me to see him hurt. I get frustrated and short tempered when one of my children is suffering. Hopefully, I will never experience true suffering with either of them. Heaven help anyone in my path if I do.

A working mom with no childcare

I have always said that I am a stay-at-home mom who does some consulting work on the side. Lately, I have had so much work to do, I feel like a working mom who doesn't have childcare. I love it, though.
Occasionally, I have a super productive day at home and am grateful for the break from work. Other days, I have lovely break time when I just sit and play with the boys and I am grateful that my work allows me the flexibility. Finally, there are the days when I have a lot of work and am getting a lot accomplished. Those are the times I am grateful that my boys have good nap schedules and allow me some time to get things done. There are only very rare occasions that I feel pressed by my housework, my children, or my work. I am thrilled by the work opportunity I have, my freedom as a stay-at-home mom, and my ability to multi-task.
Tomorrow, I will be going to the gym early in the day and then to a MOMS Club activity at 10:00. We will head home for lunch and naps at which time I will work. There will be little to no housework done but the day will be full of activities for both myself and the boys. The day will predictably end with a grateful mother of two snuggled on the couch with her loving and doting husband.

Time flies...wow

I realized that my last post was the 12th. That is a shame! We took the boys to Portsmouth, VA for my second cousin's wedding on the 20th. Before that, I managed to go to the gym a lot and then came down with a head cold. Well, that cold carried through after the trip to VA. It was hot, hot, hot but we got through the country church wedding and outdoor waterfront reception. It was literally 100 degrees outside. The best part about the trip was seeing my parents and spending some quality time with them. We had adjoining hotel rooms so it was like we were all in the same suite...so nice.

As I mentioned, I was truly in head cold hell when we got back from Portsmouth. I managed to hold it together and get some preparation done for a work seminar we were hosting on Thursday in DC and then the following work retreat on Friday and Saturday. I honestly cannot say enough about my coworkers and the work I am doing. I love, love, love all of it. The conditions couldn't have been more perfect for us to be together, get some work done, and play a little too.

We had the seminar at Agraria (a restaurant in Georgetown on the water) and they offered us space for our retreat on Friday. After a lovely lunch and productive discussions, we broke at 3:30 and took in the Star Trek movie. After the movie, we retreated to a nearby bar for a few drinks and some high calorie appetizers. We had a great time and I felt like I was living a different life than my normal day-to-day. Perhaps I have a split personality - perhaps I have multiple personalities...maybe I am just a clone of my self inside myself. However it all works, it amounts to a gloriously balanced life for me.

Chris' friends, Scott and Jo came over from England to visit and arrived on Friday. While I was at my retreat on Saturday, my family was touring DC and I didn't miss it. I have toured DC so many times, I could do it with my eyes closed. It was nice to be with co-workers and meet up with the family over cook-out food later that day. Today, we took Scott and Jo along with the boys to the Blues Festival in our old down-town neighborhood of Federal Hill. The weather was perfect and everyone had a lovely time.

CSA YEA!

I bought a share in Community Supported Agriculture farm before the frost had cleared the ground and am SO PLEASED to finally be receiving the weekly share that I have been so eager to fawn over, clean, store, prepare and eat! I missed the first two offerings because of my trip south but gave them to a friend in exchange for some beef that she had (she and her family shared in a cow earlier this year and she has a surplus). I know that last sentence seems like I have turned Amish - I assure you, there is still gas in my car and I am posting this from a computer, not a stone tablet with built in Wi-Fi.

Anyway, below is a picture of this week's share.

Last weekend, I collected my share from my dear friend, Jessica, who had taken care to refrigerate the offering of week 3 for my return. I got a bag of greens, a bag of assorted lettuce, a head of lettuce, some tiny beets - that were delicious boiled and topped on a salad-, a bunch of radishes, and a pint of peas in their pods. We easily ate through everything - except for some of the lettuce. I have given it my best shot and will continue to try but I am not sure if some of it won't make it to my neighbor's house or the compost bin. Since I got another head of lettuce yesterday, I may just go ahead and send that one over...

There is a mystery among my share. He is dressed with pretty yellow flowers and covered in tiny bean-looking pods. I looked at the list that was sent by the CSA contact and I KNOW he isn't there because I recognize everything on the list: Beets (1 bunch with greens), Red Sails Head Lettuce (1 head), Sugar Snap Peas (2 pts), Kohlrabi (1 tennis ball sized), Onion (1 with greens), And ONE of the following vegetables: *Arugula, *Spicy Spring Mix, *Bagged Dill, *Bagged Basil, *White Salad Turnips, *Red Salad Turnips, *Kale.

My rubber band-bound bunch of weedy delicacy isn't present - not at all! I will post an update when she lets me know what it is!

Tonight I made a stir fry that included the onion and some of the peas...yum!

Adventures in gym life

Back in town and back on the wagon, for sure. The boys and I have been to the gym every day this week and it is already Thursday! Rhys has done well but is always in some one's arms when I go to pick them up from the Kids Club. Cole loves it so much he asks every day when we are going and as we are leaving puts in his request to come back. Yesterday we actually went twice. I worked out in the morning and then after Rhys had his morning nap, we went back to hang out by the pool.

Right now, I am pounding on the treadmill for an hour but once I start slimming down a little, I am going to start working on adding some toning exercises. I plan to schedule time with a trainer in the next couple of weeks to get some help on the weight equipment and some advice on trimming the muscle in my calves (if that is possible) and generally toning my arms and abs.

I have to strike a healthy balance and not overdo because of the fear of a fibromyalgia flair up. Anyway, it is going really well.

Funny account: I happened to get a front parking place which is ideal with a child that likes to walk to the door by himself. I don't scope out close parking places normally since the added exercise is always welcomed. I found it humorous that at the GYM of all places, someone waited for me to load up the kids and free up the parking space. funny.

Bennettsville and the ride home

We headed to Bennettsville on Wednesday morning and arrived just after lunch. The boys did well for this leg of the trip. We got all settled in and later that same day, my best friend, Kelly and her husband and boys arrived. We were a house full and it was wonderful. Holly, my friend who lives in Bennettsville, hosted all of us in her house. 5 adults and 6 boys - 2 5-year olds, 3 3-year olds, and 1 1-year old. ALL BOYS!

We had a great time and filled the days with outdoor play, touring the fire station, riding around town on their golf cart, eating and drinking. The two daddies even agreed to watch all 6 kids one night so the three moms could go out for girl's night. It was a lot of fun being out and letting lose in a town that I once sort of called home.'

I packed up our stuff and headed home first thing on Saturday morning. We were home mid-afternoon and were all so happy to be back. We all missed Chris so much and it was nice to be back in our own beds.

Charleston

We headed to Charleston to visit with my old Sorority Sister, Allyson (Auntie Al to the boys). And her fiance, Ell. The trip from TR to Charleston took way longer than I had hoped and included many more stops than I am accustomed to (in 4 hours, I changed Rhys' diaper 4 times!)

We had a great time while we were there, though. Her house is beautiful and, as always, it is just great to see old friends and catch up. Al graciously took two days off work (she is a Special Ed teacher for High School students from 14-21 years old). On Monday, we went to Kiawah Island and played on the beach. After the day on the beach, I wanted seafood so we went to dinner at the Charleston Crab House - Hushpuppies stuffed with crab and fried in butter - shrimp stuffed with crab and wrapped with bacon served with a side of grits and collard greens YUMMY!

On Tuesday, we took the boys to Charles Towne Landing. Cole enjoyed seeing the animals and walking around. It was so hot and humid, though, and is barely June!!! We are already excited about going back in August for their wedding. I can't wait to see them again.